Newspaper Page Text
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SERVING 88 SOUTH GEORGIA COUNTIES
NEWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
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Vol. 46, No. 2
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1965
$5 Per Year
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Presbyterians
In Appeal F or
Liberty Decree
COLUMBUS, Ohio (NC)--The
United Presbyterian Church said
here it prays that God will guide
the Catholic Church to the adop
tion of a statement on religious
liberty at the Vatican Council.
Such a statement, stated the
church’s 177th general assembly,
“will deepen the mutual trust
• d enlarge the freedom freshly
[ilized between us.”
“We pray that God will lead the
Roman Catholic Church in its ef
forts to achieve a relevant and
renewing statement on religious
liberty,” said the assembly.
The appeal came in a document
which encourages Presbyterian
churches and individual members
of the church to seek closer as
sociation and first-hand know
ledge of Catholics. The chief
means proposed is mutual
activity in civic affairs, such as
civil rights issues.
The proposal on religious li
berty is expected to be one of
the first matters of business when
the Vatican council reconvenes
its fourth and final session
on Sept. 14.
The report on closer ties with
Catholics, which the general as
sembly approved in the form:
presented by the church’s Com
mission on Ecumenical Mission
and Relations, called for “oc
casional, reverent” attendance at
Catholic Masses and of in
vitations to Catholics to attend
Presbyterian services.
But its principal stress was on
mutual cooperation in community
life.
“The most enduring and mean
ingful share of insight and ex
perience must take place where
people meet people, where Roman
Catholics and Protestants bound
mutual citizenship and com
ity concerns have too often
■en strangers to each other’s
faith,” said the declaration.
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“Every realization of our unity
in Christ must ultimately lead to
expressions of that oneness in
cooperative service.
The document concludes;
“In penitence," we would con
fess and by God’s grace seek to
amend all that within our own
church life disfigures the unity
of Christ’s Church and mars
our mutual discipleship. We
would pray also that God will
lead the Roman Catholic Church
in its efforts to achieve a rele
vant and renewing statement on
religious liberty that will deepen
the mutual trust and enlarge the
freedom freshly realized between
us. So by His grace are we
being led in our time from pru
dential tolerance one of the other
to genuine brotherhood in the
household of the faith.”
The general assembly also ap
proved an appeal that Presby
terians join efforts to repeal
laws in 19 states prohibiting in
terracial marriage. No scrip
tural or theological grounds exist
for banning such marriages, the
assembly said.
The Presbyterian also heard
an address by Sargent Shriver,
director of the Office of Eco
nomic Opportunity, who said that
“we need the conscience of the
church in our war on
poverty because the war is fun
damentally a nation fighting to
preserve its soul.”
He warned against the danger
that the effort will “degenerate
into a series of power strug
gles” and he declared that even
churches are “not immune from
subverting the war on poverty
to their own end.”
Shriver elaborated by contend
ing that helping the poor “could
become a cover for establishing
‘stakeouts’—geographical, pro
fessional, political and, yes, de
nominational stake outs—at the
expense of the poor.”
NATION
'Church In The Round'
VATICAN
UN Anniversary Meet
EUROPE
Reds Fail Again
BONN, Germany—Ninety-eight percent of babies born in Slovakia
during the past year have been baptized in Catholic churches,
and 80% of the young people are assisting at Sunday, Mass, despite
an Anti-Church Red Regime. This has been reported in newspapers
and periodicals in Czechoslovakia and is confirmed by visitors,
according to the German Catholic news agency (KNA) here.
FAR EAST
NX, Newsman Killed
IN JOINT PASTORAL LETTER
SEVEN DIOCESAN PRIESTS have received new appointments. They are (top
row, 1. to r.) Rev. Joseph L. Stranc, Rev. John Fitzpatrick, Rev. George C. James
and (bottom row, 1. to r.) Rev. William F. Simmons, Rev. Ralph Seikel and Rev.
Kevin Boland. Photo of the seventh priest, Rev. Benjrmin Werner was not avail
able.
.’ , "... .-'v " /• , * *.„•W
THREE SCHOOLS AFFECTED
Diocesan Clergy Changes
Are Announced By Bishop
EAST WEYMOUTH, Mass. — A “church in the round”, seat
ing 1,200 persons and not one of them more than 15 pews away
from the altar is planning for Immaculate Conception parish
here. The $1,000,000 church will have many unique features and
will replace an old wooden structure built 92 years ago. The new
church has been designed in keeping with the changes made in
the liturgy of the Mass. The altar will be in the exact center of
the church which will be perfectly round, with a diameter of 140
feet.
VATICAN CITY—The Holy See has accepted an invitation to
participate in a “Convocation of Religion for World Peace” in
San Francisco June 27 in connection with observance of the 20th
anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Archbishop
Martin J. O’Connor, an American who is president of the Pon
tifical Commission for the Communications Media, will head the
Vatican delegation and read a message from Pope Paul VI to the
convocation.
KARACHI, Pakistan—Gerald Rosario, N.C.W.C. News Service
correspondent in Pakistan, was buried here (May 23). He was
killed (May 20) in an airplane crash near Cairo, U.A.R., that
took 119 lives, including those of 21 Pakistani newsmen.
His Excellency, The Most Re
verend Thomas J. McDonough
has announced clergy appoint
ments for seven priests in the
Diocese of Savannah. The an
nouncement was made June 3rd,
with appointments effective the
same day.
Father Seikel
The Rev. Ralph E. Seikel, mo
derator of Augusta’s Aquinas
High School since 1957, and pas
tor of St. Patrick’s Church since
1961, has been assigned as Prin
cipal of Pacelli High School,
Columbus. Father Seikel is the
first priest-principal of the
school, which has been under the
directions of the Sisters of
Mercy. The Sisters will con
tinue on the teaching staff, but
will no longer be responsible
for the school’s administration.
The appointment to Columbus
is the second such for Father
Seikel. In March of 1957 he was
assigned as Assistant Pastor of
Holy Family church, there. He
had previously served as Assis
tant Pastor of Blessed Sacrament
Church, Savannah; Director of
Camp Villa Marie; and Notary
on the Diocesan Tribunal.
Father Stranc
Succeeding Father Seikel as
Moderator at Aquinas High School
will be the Rev. JosephL. Stranc,
since 1960 on the staff of St.
John Vianney Minor Seminary,
Savannah. After serving two
years as Assistant Pastor of
Macon’s St. Joseph’s Church,
Father Stranc was assigned as a
professor at the seminary, be
coming the school’s Procurator
in 1961.
Father Stranc also becomes the
new Pastor of Augusta’s St. Pat
rick’s Church.
Father James
With the abolition of the office
of Moderator at Pacelli High
School, the Rev. GeorgeC. James
has been reassigned to the post
of Assistant Pastor of Our Lady
of Lourdes Church, Columbus and
Instructor in Religion at Pacelli.
Ordained in 19 58, Father James
has served as Assistant Pastor
at Savannah’s Blessed Sacrament
Church and at St. Mary’s-on-
the-Hill, Augusta, and was a pro
fessor at St. John Vianney Minor
Seminary from 1960 to 1963.
Official
Father Boland
The Rev. Kevin Boland will
leave the staff of St. John Vianney
Seminary, where he has served
as Dean of Students, to become
Secretary to Bishop McDonough.
Due to the growth of the Diocese
in recent years and increased
administrative needs, Father Bo
land has also been named a
Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese.
Since his ordination in 1959,
Father Boland has served as As
sistant Pastor at St. Mary’s, Au
gusta and Assistant Rector of
the Cathedral. He was named
to the staff of St. John Vianney
Seminary in 1961 and became
Assistant Master of Episcopal
Ceremonies in 1962.
Father Boland will take up
residence at the home of Bishop
McDonough in Savannah.
Area Bishops Urge
End To Racial And
Religious Tensions
Father Fitzpatrick
The Rev. John J. Fitzpatrick,
Jr. has been named to succeed
Father Boland as the Seminary’s
Dean of Students. Father Fitz
patrick came to the Seminary
staff in 1964 after serving four
years as Assistant Pastor of St.
Joseph’s Church, Macon. He is
also a member of the Diocesan
Music Commission and was Di
rector of Camp Villa Marie for
its 1963 season.
Father Werner
The Rev. Benjamin Werner
has been reassigned from As
sistant Pastor of St. John the
Evangelist Church, Valdosta to
the post of Instructor in Mathe
matics at St. John Vianney Semi
nary.
A priest of the Diocese of
Buffalo, N.Y., Father Werner
has been loaned to the Savan
nah Diocese for the express pur
pose of teaching at St. John’s
Seminary.
Father Werner holds a degree
in Mathematics from Hamilton
College, Hamilton, N. Y. and
has been a graduate student in
mathematics at Canisius Uni
versity, Buffalo. He has also
taught mathematics on the col
lege level at St. John’s Major
Seminary in Buffalo.
Father Simmons
The Rev. William F. Simmons,
ordained at Columbus last month,
undertakes his first assignment
as Assistant Pastor of Savan
nah’s Blessed Sacrament Church,
replacing Father Cornelius F.
Keane who is returning to his
home Diocese of Cork, Ireland.
He is a 1957 graduate of St.
Bernard's High School at Cull
man, Ala., and began his prepa
ratory studies for the priest
hood at Cullman at St. Bernard’s
Seminary. He was ordained at
Columbus May 8.
His Excellency, the Most Rev
erend Thomas J. McDonough and
Bishops of four other deep South
dioceses have joined in a state
ment calling on all men of good
will to work for a “wiser, stron
ger, better society” in the South.
(See full text of
Statement on Page 4)
Urging justice and charity to
ward Negroes, the bishops de
clared; “Justice has been slow
in coming.
“But beyond justice is the
divine virtue of charity, the love
of God and our fellow men.
Charity is crying out for a trial
in the tensions involving the white
and the Negro. ’ ’
The statement, scheduled to be
read on Pentecost Sunday in
churches throughout the dioceses
of the signatory bishops, bore
the names of the following pre
lates of the Province of Atlanta;
Bishop McDonough, Archbish
op Paul J. Hallinan, of Atlanta,
Bishop Vincent S. Waters of
Raleigh, N.C., Bishop Coleman
Carroll of Miami, Fla., Bishop
Ernest L. Unterkoefler of Char
leston, S.C., and Auxiliary Bishop
Charles B. McLaughlin of
Raleigh.
The document declared that the
Catholic Church is “at home in
the South.” Despite the “past
tragedies and the present trials,”
it said, “our environment is
fundamentally religious.”
“The majority of persons of
other faiths share with us a gen
uine sense of God, a love for
the Bible, a tradition of church
membership, and a courteous and
gentle approach to others,” the
bishops stated.
However, they continued, “two
great tensions test today the
spiritual heritage of American
life--religious disunity and ra
cial strife.”
“We can in our communities
meet their challenge only with
the candor of truth and the ardor
of love, enkindled by the Holy
Spirit whose Person we com-
menorate today,” the bishops
stated.
While conditions in the past
hampered the movement toward
Christian unity, the statement
said, today “times are changing.
The rich missionary history of
Catholicism in Florida, Geor
gia and the Carolinas is a hardy
base on which Catholic laymen,
side by side with those of other
faiths, are raising a wiser,
stronger, better society.”
“This South,” the bishops add
ed, “will not be woven of dreams
and desperate hopes.” It cited
the tradition of such men as
John England and James Gib
bons, the first Catholic bishops
of the Carolinas, Methodist lead
er John Wesley and “scores of
other Protestant pioneers,” Rob
ert E. Lee, George Washington
Carver and poet Sidney Lanier.
The bishops said they favor
“dialogue and cooperation with
others, especially our fellow
Christians but also with all men
of God, even those who do not
share our mutual bond of bap
tism.”
GEMINI IV
“In most southern communi
ties mutual good will and respect
are growing, and this should be
made known to all our people,’ ’
the statement said.
The document emphasized,
however, that progress in the
religious sphere cannot be sepa
rated from social, civic and eco
nomic concerns. If a man “be
lieves that all men are created
in the image of God,” it said,
‘ £ he must live in spiritual equality
with others regardless of their
race, nation or color.”
“Our nation, although built
upon these Judaeo-Christian
principles, is taking many years
to fulfill them. Both North and
South have maintained their own
patterns of racial discrimination.
The denial to Negroes of decent
housing, education and job op
portunities and even the right
to vote are only phases in a
century of oppression ”
“Both white and Negro,” they
said, “must accept the full re
sponsibility of his social duties.
Both must study in order to be
wide, work in order to be pro
ductive, and conduct themselves
as good men.
Wife Prays For
Flight Success
WEBSTER , Tex. (NC)—The
wife of astronaut James A. Mc-
Divitt said here while her hus
band manned the Gemini VI
spacecraft 100 miles upward, she
would be doing the same thing
she does every day—“praying
for his safety.”
Mrs. Pat McDivitt said Ca
tholicity for her is not a some
time faith, but a deep rooted
religiosity—and would be that
during the four days her hus-
THE NEW LITURGY rules provide that new Catho
lics may receive their first Communion under both
species — bread and wine — as this young man is
doing following his baptism at St. Lawrence church,
Minneapolis. (NC Photos)
band and Maj. Edward H. White
are orbiting in space at a speed
of 1,700 miles an hour.
The wife of the astronaut made
her comments after assisting at
Mass at St. Paul’s parish, “with
out a church,” which is three
miles from her home in Nassau
Bay, near the spacecraft center.
Father George A. Beck, pastor
of the parish, said he will offer
Mass for the safety of the two
astronauts, “just as I offer Mass
for the safe return of any of the
astronauts at any time they take
off.” He said when Majs. White
and McDivitt blast off of earth
he will mention their names with
his intention in the Canon of the
Mass.
Mrs. McDivitt said (June 3)
she felt no apprehension about
her husband’s historic venture
into space.
“I feel fine—proud of Jim
and just hope that everything
goes well,” Mrs. McDivitt said.
“I have no plans for doing any
thing different than the things
I do every day, praying for Jim’s
safety.”
Maj. White, who is a member
of Seabrook Methodist Church, is
slated for the role of the first
American astronaut to take a
walk in space. Mrs. McDivitt
said she and Mrs. White will
get together sometime during
the four-day flight to watch the
historic event on television.
Father Back said the McDivitts
attend Sunday Mass regularly at
his parish and are at daily Mass
whenever they have the oppor
tunity. The pastor offers daily
Mass in his rectory and Sunday
Masses in the Webster Junior
High School auditorium.